Chat with Carter Strickland

Welcome to HornsNation! On Tuesday, writer Carter Strickland stops by to chat about everything Texas.

Strickland joined ESPN.com in 2011 after covering the University of Georgia for Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the University of Oklahoma for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman and Washington State University for The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review. Strickland lives with his wife and family in Austin, Texas.

Tom (TX)

Carter Strickland

(3:00 PM)

I would have to say kickoff coverage as a unit is the weakest. The other weakest is wide receiver because beyond Shipley and Davis Texas is really reaching.

barron tryon (dallas,tx)

WHERE IS JORDAN HICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carter Strickland

(3:01 PM)

Texas is having to play a lot of nickel and last week they went to a three down, two linebacker, six DB set. That has forced Hicks from the field. I agree though, he is the best athlete among the Lbs and they need to find a way to get him on the field.

Ricky (Garden City, Kansas)

Since it took 5 weeks for Coach Brown and the offensive staff to finally decide on a quarterback, who has more upside at the position, Ash for future or Brewer coming in next year?

Carter Strickland

(3:03 PM)

Perfect scenario Ash plays well enough this year so that Brewer can redshirt his freshman year. That gives two years separation between the two guys and allows Texas not to be in this same situation again in a long time.

daniel (houston)

aside from what has been written about mccoy's lack of arm strength; why isn't he at least getting some snaps; his deciscision making is obviously ahead of ash's; a play make is a play maker; we saw what great arm strength and ability gilbert had and where is he now???

Carter Strickland

(3:04 PM)

Ash just has so much more upside. He also is a better runner. He is a guy that can truly fill the role of college QB. His decision making will get better. This year is all about potential at the QB spot and Ash has more potential in every QB category.

Joe (Joe-hio)

Mack Brown has repeatedly said that Texas is not a 5-7 team. Although Texas is better than the Texas team from last year, the rest of the BigXII-ish is better too. Texas probably won't be favored against Baylor, Mizzou, TAMU, Tech or K-state, so is this a 5-7 team after all?

Carter Strickland

(3:06 PM)

The Mizzou game on the road is going to be very tough for Texas to win. Same with TAMU. I see Texas as an 8-4 team. I think they have better athletes than the rest of the guys on their schedule. Combine better athletes with this coaching staff and you have an eight win team. Last season Texas had the better athletes but they gave up. This year's team doesn't seem to have that give up in them.

andy (fort myers)

why isnt case mccoy starting. in his two starts the horns were 2-0. in ash's 2 starts they were 0-2 plus mccoys numbers are MUCH better and he just looks like the better quarterback, PLUS ITS THE MCCOY SHIPLEY CONNECTION

Carter Strickland

(3:08 PM)

Let's not forget McCoy fumbled the ball twice against OU and one of those was run in for the score. Ash needs to work on his decision making for sure. But he can make all the throws. Case cannot. Quarterbacks are asked to put the ball in certain spots at certain times. Not just on long throws. Case does not have the arm strength to make the zip throws that are required.

JR (Omaha, NEBRASKA)

When is ESPN going to give up on the LHN and realize that few outside of Texas really care about UT? I am sick and tired of watching a game on ABC or an ESPN network and listening to them beg people to call your cable company to request it.

Carter Strickland

(3:08 PM)

Way above my pay grade.

Chris Fiegler (Latham,NY)

What is the Biggest &#x26; the Oldest Rivals in College Football for Texas?

Carter Strickland

(3:09 PM)

Starts and ends with TAMU. And that ends this year. The game has been around for 117 years. Hard to fathom it will not be played anymore. But there is more money elsewhere and that is what college football is about these days.

Derrin (Plano, TX)

The Horns have top rated recruiting classes ever year so why isn't the production showing on the field? Garrett Gilbert recieved the brunt of the criticism in Austin, but the highly touted wideouts and lineman that Mack Brown brought in the past few years have not produced as well. Are these players overrated, undercoached, or a combination of both.

Carter Strickland

(3:11 PM)

It's not about how highly rated the kids are, it is about what a coaching staff can do with them once they are on campus. Texas has not done a good job developing the talent they have recruited in the past couple of years. Mack Brown will admit he missed on some kids as well. But he also admits that they got complacent. The attention to detail slipped. They allowed the players to get away with things. And kids being kids took advantage and got sloppy.

Fred (Oklahoma City)

Carter, What do you think about the decision to go with Ash full time instead of playing McCoy, too?

Carter Strickland

(3:18 PM)

Co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin never wanted to go with a two-quarterback system. For all his talk about how he had played two guys at Boise, the stats prove that he never really had. They were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. Texas needs to develop one guy so they are not in this same situation next year. They chose Ash as that guy because he gives the offense more opportunities to run the types of plays Harsin wants to call.

William (Austin)

Carter, what have you learned about Texas' young secondary after facing two of the best WRs in back-to-back weeks in Broyles and Blackmon?

Carter Strickland

(3:20 PM)

Carrington Byndom is a next level player. Diggs still has a lot of work to do with his coverages. He also did not get much safety help against OU. Problem for Texas is that Adrian Phillips suffer what looked like a pretty significant arm injury against OSU. That could be a huge loss for a secondary that is already very thin. This group also needs to learn to tackle better.

Derrin (Plano, TX)

Who would say has been the biggest disappointment for the Horns, Garrett Gilbert or Mike Davis?

Carter Strickland

(3:24 PM)

I would go with Gilbert because there is still hope for Davis. Although Davis goes down way too easily. He caught eight balls for 80 yards against OSU. He made one nifty move against OSU but beyond that did not get many more yards after the catch. He is strictly a deep threat at this point in his career. That is why Texas needs a third receiver to step up so that Shipley can take the middle, Davis go deep and the third guy grab what is left.

Bob Stoops (Norman, Okla.)

Carter, I was looking at my good friend Mack Brown's schedule earlier today and I was having trouble figuring out where Texas is going to get bowl eligible. What's your best guess? Where are those wins going to come?

Carter Strickland

(3:25 PM)

Well they don't play Arizona so that is a negative. But they should be able to get four more wins down the stretch - KSU, BU, Tech and Kansas. Only Baylor is on the road. And Texas has the better athletes in every game. If they can play to their potential those should be wins.

Derrin (Plano, TX)

Mario Edwards has opened up his recruiting a bit and is now considering OU after watching the Sooners dismantle the Horns. Does this just add insult, to injury, if this guy ends up in Norman the next 3-5 years?

Carter Strickland

(3:29 PM)

He was supposed to come to Texas for the OSU game but as William Wilkerson of ESPN reported he did not make the game. So Texas fans should see that as a blessing because the stadium was not a great atmosphere against the Cowboys.My guess is Edwards does stay close to Dallas. And if you were a high school player right now and saw OU's defense it would be pretty hard not to say ''I want to play with those guys."Still Texas has a chance. That is more than it had when he was fully committed to FSU.

Carter Strickland

(3:30 PM)

That's it for the chat guys. We will be back next week. If you have any more questions just go to HornsNation.com and submit the question to my mailbag.Thanks